Following the war, LST-481 performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-November 1945. She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 28 February 1946, and struck from the Navy list on 12 April 1946. On 16 April 1948, the ship was sold to the Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and subsequently scrapped.[3]

1.
Kiska, Alaska
–
Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about 22 miles long and varies in width from 1.5 to 6 miles and it is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permissions are required to visit it. Georg Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist-physician aboard Berings ship, wrote, On 25 October 1741 we had very clear weather and sunshine and we were surprised in the morning to discover a large tall island at 51° to the north of us. Prior to European contact, Kiska Island had been populated by native peoples for thousands of years. Kiska, and the other Rat Islands, were reached by independent Russian traders in the 1750s, after the initial exploitation of the sea otter population, Russians rarely visited the island as interest shifted further east. Years would frequently pass without a ship landing. Starting in 1775, Kiska, the Aleutian Islands, and mainland Alaska became fur trading outposts for the Russian-American Company managed by Grigory Shelekhov, in 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska with the Russian Empire. Kiska was included in the purchase, the Japanese No.3 Special Landing Party and 500 marines went ashore at Kiska on June 6,1942 as a separate campaign concurrent with the Japanese plan for the Battle of Midway. The Japanese captured the sole inhabitants of the island, a small U. S. Navy Weather Detachment consisting of ten men, including a lieutenant, the next day the Japanese captured Attu Island. The military importance of this frozen, difficult-to-supply island was questionable, the U. S. Navy began operations to deny Kiska supply which would lead to the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. During October 1942, American forces undertook seven bombing missions over Kiska, following the winter, Attu was liberated and Kiska was bombed once more for over two months, before a larger American force was allocated to defeat the expected Japanese garrison of 5,200 men. As a result of the engagement between U. S. and Canadian forces, there were 28 American dead as well as four Canadian dead. The destroyer USS Abner Read hit a mine, resulting in 87 casualties, admiral Ernest King reported to the secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, that the only things that remained on the island were dogs and fresh brewed coffee. Knox asked for an explanation and King responded, The Japanese are very clever, the Japanese occupation site on the island is now considered a National Historic Landmark and is protected under federal law. The island is also a part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and contains the largest colony of least auklets, research biologists from Memorial University of Newfoundland have been studying the impact of introduced Norway rats on the seabirds of Kiska since 2001. Much of the left behind from World War II is still evident in Kiska. The slow erosion processes on the tundra have had effect on the bomb craters still visible both from the ground and in satellite images on the hills surrounding the harbor. Numerous equipment dumps, tunnels, Japanese gun emplacements, shipwrecks, in 1983, a memorial plaque was placed on Kiska by the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment

2.
Landing Ship, Tank
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and European theatre. The first tank landing ships were built to British requirements by converting existing ships, then the British, over 1,000 LSTs were laid down in the United States during World War II for use by the Allies. Eighty more were built in the United Kingdom and Canada, as an interim measure, three 4, 000- to 4, 800-GRT tankers, built to pass over the restrictive bars of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to ships, which became the first tank landing ships, LST, HMS Misoa, Tasajera. They later proved their worth during the invasion of Algeria in 1942, the first purpose-built LST design was HMS Boxer. It was a design from ideas penned by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In order that it could carry 13 Churchill infantry tanks,27 other vehicles and nearly 200 men at a speed of 18 knots, as a result, each of the three ordered in March 1941 had a very long ramp stowed behind the bow doors. The three ships were converted to Fighter Direction Ships for the invasion of Normandy, the U. S. were to build seven LST but in light of the problems with the design and progress with the LCT Mark II the plans were canceled. Construction of the LCTs took until 1943 and the first US LCT was launched before them, at their first meeting at the Atlantic conference in Argentia, Newfoundland, in August 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill confirmed the Admiraltys views. During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels, as with the standing agreement, these ships would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the Royal Navy. The specifications called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic, calling a vessel 300 ft long a craft was considered a misnomer and the type was re-christened Landing Ship, Tank, or LST. The LST design incorporated elements of the first British LCTs from their designer, Sir Rowland Baker, one of the elements provided for sufficient buoyancy in the ships sidewalls so that they would float the ship even when the tank deck was flooded. The LST gave up the speed of HMS Boxer, at only 10 knots, within a few days, John C. Niedermair of the Bureau of Ships sketched out an awkward looking ship that proved to be the design for the more than 1,000 LST that were built during World War II. An anchor and mechanical winch system also aided in the ability to pull itself off the beach

3.
Maritime Commission
–
It also formed the United States Maritime Service for the training of seagoing ships officers to man the new fleet. The purpose of the Maritime Commission was multifold as described in the Merchant Marine Acts Declaration of Policy. S, Merchant Marine prior to the Act. Another function given to the Commission involved the formation of the U. S. Maritime Service for the training of seagoing ships officers to man the new fleet, the actual licensing of officers and seamen still resided with the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. President Roosevelt nominated Joseph P. Kennedy first head of the Commission, Kennedy held that position until February 1938 when he left to become US Ambassador to Great Britain. The other four members of the Commission in the years before the beginning of World War II were a mix of retired officers and men from disciplines of law. The man most notable in the group Land brought to the Commission was Commander Howard L. Vickery, USN, as a symbol of the rebirth of the U. S. Upon the U. S. entry into World War II, America was requisitioned by the U. S. Navy and became USS West Point. Most of the C2s and C3s were converted to Navy auxiliaries, notably attack cargo ships, attack transports, the Commission also was tasked with the construction of many hundred military type vessels such as Landing Ship, Tank s and Tacoma-class frigates and large troop transports. By the end of the war, U. S. shipyards working under Maritime Commission contracts had built a total of 5,777 oceangoing merchant, in early 1942 both the training and licensing was transferred to the U. S. S. With the end of World War II, both the Emergency and Long Range shipbuilding programs were terminated as there were far too many merchant vessels now for the Nations peacetime needs. In 1946, the Merchant Ship Sales Act was passed to sell off a portion of the ships previously built during the war to commercial buyers. Although not sold outright to nations that were enemies during the war, for the next 25 years, in ports all around the world one could find dozens of ships which had been built during the war but which now were used in peace. Ships not disposed of through the Ship Sales Act were placed one of eight National Defense Reserve Fleet sites maintained on the Atlantic, Pacific. On several occasions in the postwar years ships in the fleets were activated for both military and humanitarian aid missions. The last major mobilization of the NDRF came during the Vietnam War, since then, a smaller fleet of ships called the Ready Reserve Force has been mobilized to support both humanitarian and military missions. The Maritime Commission was abolished on 24 May 1950, and its functions were divided between the U. S. S. Merchant Marine Academy which had built and opened during World War II. 1936, Merchant Marine Act abolishes Shipping Board and establishes Maritime Commission,1937, Joseph P. S. merchant shipping has been held by many agencies since 1917

4.
Richmond, California
–
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7,1905, under the McLaughlin Administration, Richmond was the largest city in the United States served by a Green Party mayor. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the population is at 103,710. The largest, Richmond, Virginia, is the namesake of the California city, the Ohlone Indians were the first inhabitants of the Richmond area, settling an estimated 5,000 years ago. The name Richmond appears to predate actual incorporation by more than fifty years, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad had its terminus at Richmond. The first post office opened in 1900, Richmond was founded and incorporated in 1905, carved out of Rancho San Pablo, from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name. Until the enactment of prohibition in 1919, the city had the largest winery in the world, in the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city. In 1930 the Ford Motor Company opened a plant called Richmond Assembly Plant which moved to Milpitas in the 1960s. The old Ford plant has been a National Historic Place since 1988, the city was a small town at that time, until the onset of World War II which brought on a rush of migrants and a boom in the industrial sector. Standard Oil set up here in 1901, including a what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm. There is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers, the western terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad was established in Richmond with ferry connections at Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond to San Francisco. Many of these lived in specially constructed houses scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley. A specially built rail line, the Shipyard Railway, transported workers to the shipyards, kaisers Richmond shipyards built 747 Victory and Liberty ships for the war effort, more than any other site in the U. S. The city broke many records and even built one Liberty ship in a five days. On average the yards could build a ship in thirty days, the medical system established for the shipyard workers at the Richmond Field Hospital eventually became todays Kaiser Permanente HMO. It remained in operation until 1993 when it was replaced by the modern Richmond Medical Center hospital, Point Richmond was originally the commercial hub of the city, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city. It was populated by many department stores such as Kress, J. C. Penney, Sears, Macys, during the war the population increased dramatically and peaked at around 120,000 by the end of the war. Once the war ended the workers were no longer needed

5.
International Code of Signals
–
The International Code of Signals is an international system of signals and codes for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. Signals can be sent by flaghoist, signal lamp, flag semaphore, radiotelegraphy, the International Code is the most recent evolution of a wide variety of maritime flag signalling systems. It has done this by first establishing an alphabet, along with a spoken form of each letter. Combinations of these characters are assigned as codes for various standardized messages. One simply raises the Kilo flag, or sends the Morse Code equivalent by flashing light, one of the elegant aspects of the ICS is that all of the standardized messages come in nine languages. It is immaterial if the sender and receiver are using different languages, the code also covers procedural aspects, how naval ships indicate that they are using the ICS, use in radiotelephony, and various other matters. Prior to 1969, the code was more extensive, covering a wider range of messages. Since 1969, it has reduced to focus on navigation and safety. Signals can be sorted into three groups, Single-letter signals which are very urgent, important, or common, two-letter signals for other messages, sometimes followed with a numerical complement which supplements or modifies the message. Three-letter signals beginning with M, these are the Medical Signal Codes, in some cases, additional characters are added to indicate quantities, bearing, course, distance, date, time, latitude, or longitude. There is also provision for spelling words and for indicating use of other codes, several of the more common single-letter signals are shown at the right. Two-letter signals cover a broad gamut of situations, the reader is urged to download a copy of the Code from the link below. Repeated characters can be a problem in flaghoist, to avoid having to carry multiple sets of signal flags, the Code uses three substitute flags. These repeat the flag at the indicated position, for instance, to signal MAA the Mike, Alfa, and 2nd substitute flags would be flown, the substitute indicating a repeat of the second character. The Medical Signal Code is a means of providing assistance when medical personnel are not present, even where there are no language problems, the Medical Signal Code is useful in providing a standard method of case description and treatment. There is also a standard list of medicaments, keyed to a standard ships medicine chest carried by all merchant ships, the Medical signals all begin with the letter M followed by two more letters, and sometimes with additional numerals or letters. The International Code of Signals was preceded by a variety of signals and private signals, most notably Marryats Code. What is now the International Code of Signals was drafted in 1855 by the British Board of Trade and it came in two parts, the first containing universal and international signals, and the second British signals only

6.
Battle star
–
The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award is authorized the star and the manner in which the device is used for the award. Service stars, Campaign stars, and Battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the ribbon of a medal. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars, a service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star or Silver Star. The service star is similar to the gold and silver 5⁄16 Inch Stars which may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations. Service stars are authorized for the following United States expeditionary medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Service stars are also authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal effective February 9,2015 retroactive to September,11,2001. Each star represents a deployment in support of an approved GWOT operation, only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each operation. The five GWOT-EM approved operations by inclusive dates are, Enduring Freedom,11,2001 - TBD Iraqi Freedom, Mar.19,2003 - Aug.31, 2010Nomad Shadow, Nov.05,2007 - TBD New Dawn, Sep. 01,2010 - Dec.31,2011 Inherent Resolve, the bronze service star is also authorized for certain unit awards such as the Presidential Unit Citation to denote a second and subsequent award. The service ribbon itself indicates the first award, with a service star being added to indicate the second. If ever applicable, a service star is worn instead of five bronze stars. As a result, at least one star will be worn on the ribbon. However, though authorized for wear, no battle stars have been approved for wear, only a combatant commander can initiate a request for a battle star. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the approving authority, only one award of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and one award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal may be authorized for any individual. The specific manner of wear and symbolism of the stars varied from medal to medal, for example, an American Campaign Medal with a bronze service star indicated the service member had participated in an antisubmarine campaign. On other medals, bronze service stars were used on the service ribbon for those recipients of medals in possession of authorized campaign claps for those medals. Similarly, during the Vietnam War and afterwards, the Battle Effectiveness Award took the place of receiving battle stars for superior battle efficiency in place of combat operations. Awards and decorations of the United States military United States military award devices 5/16 inch star Oak leaf cluster United States award regulations for World War II

7.
LST-1 class tank landing ship
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and European theatre. The first tank landing ships were built to British requirements by converting existing ships, then the British, over 1,000 LSTs were laid down in the United States during World War II for use by the Allies. Eighty more were built in the United Kingdom and Canada, as an interim measure, three 4, 000- to 4, 800-GRT tankers, built to pass over the restrictive bars of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to ships, which became the first tank landing ships, LST, HMS Misoa, Tasajera. They later proved their worth during the invasion of Algeria in 1942, the first purpose-built LST design was HMS Boxer. It was a design from ideas penned by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In order that it could carry 13 Churchill infantry tanks,27 other vehicles and nearly 200 men at a speed of 18 knots, as a result, each of the three ordered in March 1941 had a very long ramp stowed behind the bow doors. The three ships were converted to Fighter Direction Ships for the invasion of Normandy, the U. S. were to build seven LST but in light of the problems with the design and progress with the LCT Mark II the plans were canceled. Construction of the LCTs took until 1943 and the first US LCT was launched before them, at their first meeting at the Atlantic conference in Argentia, Newfoundland, in August 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill confirmed the Admiraltys views. During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels, as with the standing agreement, these ships would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the Royal Navy. The specifications called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic, calling a vessel 300 ft long a craft was considered a misnomer and the type was re-christened Landing Ship, Tank, or LST. The LST design incorporated elements of the first British LCTs from their designer, Sir Rowland Baker, one of the elements provided for sufficient buoyancy in the ships sidewalls so that they would float the ship even when the tank deck was flooded. The LST gave up the speed of HMS Boxer, at only 10 knots, within a few days, John C. Niedermair of the Bureau of Ships sketched out an awkward looking ship that proved to be the design for the more than 1,000 LST that were built during World War II. An anchor and mechanical winch system also aided in the ability to pull itself off the beach

8.
Tank landing ship
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and European theatre. The first tank landing ships were built to British requirements by converting existing ships, then the British, over 1,000 LSTs were laid down in the United States during World War II for use by the Allies. Eighty more were built in the United Kingdom and Canada, as an interim measure, three 4, 000- to 4, 800-GRT tankers, built to pass over the restrictive bars of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to ships, which became the first tank landing ships, LST, HMS Misoa, Tasajera. They later proved their worth during the invasion of Algeria in 1942, the first purpose-built LST design was HMS Boxer. It was a design from ideas penned by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In order that it could carry 13 Churchill infantry tanks,27 other vehicles and nearly 200 men at a speed of 18 knots, as a result, each of the three ordered in March 1941 had a very long ramp stowed behind the bow doors. The three ships were converted to Fighter Direction Ships for the invasion of Normandy, the U. S. were to build seven LST but in light of the problems with the design and progress with the LCT Mark II the plans were canceled. Construction of the LCTs took until 1943 and the first US LCT was launched before them, at their first meeting at the Atlantic conference in Argentia, Newfoundland, in August 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill confirmed the Admiraltys views. During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels, as with the standing agreement, these ships would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the Royal Navy. The specifications called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic, calling a vessel 300 ft long a craft was considered a misnomer and the type was re-christened Landing Ship, Tank, or LST. The LST design incorporated elements of the first British LCTs from their designer, Sir Rowland Baker, one of the elements provided for sufficient buoyancy in the ships sidewalls so that they would float the ship even when the tank deck was flooded. The LST gave up the speed of HMS Boxer, at only 10 knots, within a few days, John C. Niedermair of the Bureau of Ships sketched out an awkward looking ship that proved to be the design for the more than 1,000 LST that were built during World War II. An anchor and mechanical winch system also aided in the ability to pull itself off the beach

9.
Tonne
–
The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviations include T, mT, MT, in French and all English-speaking countries that are predominantly metric, tonne is the correct spelling. Before metrication in the UK the unit used for most purposes was the Imperial ton of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois, equivalent to 1,016 kg, differing by just 1. 6% from the tonne. Ton and tonne are both derived from a Germanic word in use in the North Sea area since the Middle Ages to designate a large cask. A full tun, standing about a high, could easily weigh a tonne. An English tun of wine weighs roughly a tonne,954 kg if full of water, in the United States, the unit was originally referred to using the French words millier or tonneau, but these terms are now obsolete. The Imperial and US customary units comparable to the tonne are both spelled ton in English, though they differ in mass, one tonne is equivalent to, Metric/SI,1 megagram. Equal to 1000000 grams or 1000 kilograms, megagram, Mg, is the official SI unit. Mg is distinct from mg, milligram, pounds, Exactly 1000/0. 453 592 37 lb, or approximately 2204.622622 lb. US/Short tons, Exactly 1/0. 907 184 74 short tons, or approximately 1.102311311 ST. One short ton is exactly 0.90718474 t, imperial/Long tons, Exactly 1/1. 016 046 9088 long tons, or approximately 0.9842065276 LT. One long ton is exactly 1.0160469088 t, for multiples of the tonne, it is more usual to speak of thousands or millions of tonnes. Kilotonne, megatonne, and gigatonne are more used for the energy of nuclear explosions and other events. When used in context, there is little need to distinguish between metric and other tons, and the unit is spelt either as ton or tonne with the relevant prefix attached. *The equivalent units columns use the short scale large-number naming system used in most English-language countries. †Values in the equivalent short and long tons columns are rounded to five significant figures, ǂThough non-standard, the symbol kt is also sometimes used for knot, a unit of speed for sea-going vessels, and should not be confused with kilotonne. A metric ton unit can mean 10 kilograms within metal trading and it traditionally referred to a metric ton of ore containing 1% of metal. In the case of uranium, the acronym MTU is sometimes considered to be metric ton of uranium, in the petroleum industry the tonne of oil equivalent is a unit of energy, the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, approximately 42 GJ

10.
Draft (hull)
–
Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate. The draft can also be used to determine the weight of the cargo on board by calculating the displacement of water. A table made by the shows the water displacement for each draft. The density of the water and the content of the bunkers has to be taken into account. The closely related term trim is defined as the difference between the forward and aft drafts, the draft aft is measured in the perpendicular of the stern. The draft forward is measured in the perpendicular of the bow, the scale may use traditional English units or metric units. If the English system is used, the bottom of each marking is the draft in feet, in metric marking schemes, the bottom of each draft mark is the draft in decimeters and each mark is one decimeter high. Larger ships try to maintain a water draft when they are light, in order to make a better sea crossing. In order to achieve this they use sailing ballasts to stabilize the ship, the water draft of a large ship has little direct link with its stability because stability depends solely on the respective positions of the metacenter of the hull and the center of gravity. It is also however, that a light ship has quite high stability which can lead to implying too much rolling of the ship. A fully laden ship can have either a strong or weak stability, the draft of ships can be increased when the ship is in motion in shallow water, a phenomenon known as squat. Draft is a significant factor limiting navigable waterways, especially for large vessels, of course this includes many shallow coastal waters and reefs, but also some major shipping lanes. Panamax class ships—the largest ships able to transit the Panama Canal—do have a limit but are usually limited by beam, or sometimes length overall. However, in the much wider Suez Canal, the factor for Suezmax ships is draft. Some supertankers are able to transit the Suez Canal when unladen or partially laden, canals are not the only draft-limited shipping lanes. A Malaccamax ship has the deepest draft able to transit the very busy, there are only a few ships of this size. A small draft allows pleasure boats to navigate through shallower water and this makes it possible for these boats to access smaller ports, to travel along rivers and even to beach the boat. A large draft ensures a level of stability in strong wind

11.
Foot (unit)
–
The foot is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Since 1959, both units have been defined by international agreement as equivalent to 0.3048 meters exactly, in both systems, the foot comprises 12 inches and three feet compose a yard. Historically the foot was a part of local systems of units, including the Greek, Roman, Chinese, French. It varied in length from country to country, from city to city and its length was usually between 250 mm and 335 mm and was generally, but not always, subdivided into 12 inches or 16 digits. The United States is the industrialized nation that uses the international foot and the survey foot in preference to the meter in its commercial, engineering. The foot is legally recognized in the United Kingdom, road signs must use imperial units, the measurement of altitude in international aviation is one of the few areas where the foot is widely used outside the English-speaking world. The length of the international foot corresponds to a foot with shoe size of 13,14,15.5 or 46. Historically the human body has been used to provide the basis for units of length. The foot of a male is typically about 15. 3% of his height, giving a person of 160 cm a foot of 245 mm. These figures are less than the used in most cities over time. Archeologists believe that the Egyptians, Ancient Indians and Mesopotamians preferred the cubit while the Romans, under the Harappan linear measures, Indus cities during the Bronze Age used a foot of 13.2 inches and a cubit of 20.8 inches. The Egyptian equivalent of the measure of four palms or 16 digits—was known as the djeser and has been reconstructed as about 30 cm. The Greek foot had a length of 1⁄600 of a stadion, one stadion being about 181.2 m, the standard Roman foot was normally about 295.7 mm, but in the provinces, the pes Drusianus was used, with a length of about 334 mm. Originally both the Greeks and the Romans subdivided the foot into 16 digits, but in later years, after the fall of the Roman Empire, some Roman traditions were continued but others fell into disuse. In AD790 Charlemagne attempted to reform the units of measure in his domains and his units of length were based on the toise and in particular the toise de lÉcritoire, the distance between the fingertips of the outstretched arms of a man. The toise has 6 pieds each of 326.6 mm, at the same time, monastic buildings used the Carolingian foot of 340 mm. The procedure for verification of the foot as described in the 16th century by Jacob Koebel in his book Geometrei, the measures of Iron Age Britain are uncertain and proposed reconstructions such as the Megalithic Yard are controversial. Later Welsh legend credited Dyfnwal Moelmud with the establishment of their units, the Belgic or North German foot of 335 mm was introduced to England either by the Belgic Celts during their invasions prior to the Romans or by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th & 6th century

12.
Metre
–
The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted, the imperial inch is defined as 0.0254 metres. One metre is about 3 3⁄8 inches longer than a yard, Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter. Measuring devices are spelled -meter in all variants of English, the suffix -meter has the same Greek origin as the unit of length. This range of uses is found in Latin, French, English. Thus calls for measurement and moderation. In 1668 the English cleric and philosopher John Wilkins proposed in an essay a decimal-based unit of length, as a result of the French Revolution, the French Academy of Sciences charged a commission with determining a single scale for all measures. In 1668, Wilkins proposed using Christopher Wrens suggestion of defining the metre using a pendulum with a length which produced a half-period of one second, christiaan Huygens had observed that length to be 38 Rijnland inches or 39.26 English inches. This is the equivalent of what is now known to be 997 mm, no official action was taken regarding this suggestion. In the 18th century, there were two approaches to the definition of the unit of length. One favoured Wilkins approach, to define the metre in terms of the length of a pendulum which produced a half-period of one second. The other approach was to define the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant along the Earths meridian, that is, the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. This means that the quadrant would have defined as exactly 10000000 metres at that time. To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more measurements of this meridian were needed. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator

13.
Horsepower
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Horsepower is a unit of measurement of power. There are many different standards and types of horsepower, two common definitions being used today are the mechanical horsepower, which is approximately 746 watts, and the metric horsepower, which is approximately 735.5 watts. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Watt to compare the output of engines with the power of draft horses. It was later expanded to include the power of other types of piston engines, as well as turbines, electric motors. The definition of the unit varied among geographical regions, most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1,2010, units called horsepower have differing definitions, The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower equals approximately 745.7 watts. It was defined originally as exactly 550 foot-pounds per second [745.7 N. m/s), the metric horsepower equals approximately 735.5 watts. It was defined originally as 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.5 watts, the Pferdestärke PS is a name for a group of similar power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about one metric horsepower in size. The boiler horsepower equals 9809.5 watts and it was used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts, one horsepower for rating Continental European electric motors is equal to 735 watts. Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, one British Royal Automobile Club horsepower can equal a range of values based on estimates of several engine dimensions. It is one of the tax horsepower systems adopted around Europe, the development of the steam engine provided a reason to compare the output of horses with that of the engines that could replace them. He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines and this royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour, the wheel was 12 feet in radius, therefore, the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π ×12 feet in one minute. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds-force. So, P = W t = F d t =180 l b f ×2.4 ×2 π ×12 f t 1 m i n =32,572 f t ⋅ l b f m i n. Watt defined and calculated the horsepower as 32,572 ft·lbf/min, Watt determined that a pony could lift an average 220 lbf 100 ft per minute over a four-hour working shift. Watt then judged a horse was 50% more powerful than a pony, engineering in History recounts that John Smeaton initially estimated that a horse could produce 22,916 foot-pounds per minute

14.
Kilowatt
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The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units defined as 1 joule per second and can be used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. Power has dimensions of M L2 T −3, when an objects velocity is held constant at one meter per second against constant opposing force of one newton the rate at which work is done is 1 watt. 1 W =1 V ⋅ A Two additional unit conversions for watt can be using the above equation. 1 W =1 V2 Ω =1 A2 ⋅ Ω Where ohm is the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, a person having a mass of 100 kilograms who climbs a 3-meter-high ladder in 5 seconds is doing work at a rate of about 600 watts. Mass times acceleration due to gravity times height divided by the time it takes to lift the object to the given height gives the rate of doing work or power. A laborer over the course of an 8-hour day can sustain an output of about 75 watts, higher power levels can be achieved for short intervals. The watt is named after the Scottish scientist James Watt for his contributions to the development of the steam engine, in 1960 the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted it for the measurement of power into the International System of Units. For additional examples of magnitude for multiples and submultiples of the watt, technologically important powers that are measured in femtowatts are typically found in reference to radio and radar receivers. For example, meaningful FM tuner performance figures for sensitivity, quieting and these input levels are often stated in dBf. This is 0.2739 microvolt across a 75-ohm load or 0.5477 microvolt across a 300-ohm load, the picowatt is equal to one trillionth of a watt. Technologically important powers that are measured in picowatts are typically used in reference to radio and radar receivers, acoustics, the nanowatt is equal to one billionth of a watt. Important powers that are measured in nanowatts are also used in reference to radio. The microwatt is equal to one millionth of a watt, compact solar cells for devices such as calculators and watches are typically measured in microwatts. The milliwatt is equal to one thousandth of a watt, a typical laser pointer outputs about five milliwatts of light power, whereas a typical hearing aid for people uses less than one milliwatt. Audio signals and other electronic signal levels are measured in dBm. The kilowatt is equal to one thousand watts and this unit is typically used to express the output power of engines and the power of electric motors, tools, machines, and heaters. It is also a unit used to express the electromagnetic power output of broadcast radio. One kilowatt is equal to 1.34 horsepower

15.
Electro-Motive Diesel
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Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail Services Corporation, in 1930, General Motors purchased Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. combining the two to form its Electro-Motive Division in 1941. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, in 2010, Progress Rail Services completed the purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar, Berkshire, and others. EMDs headquarters, engineering facilities and parts manufacturing operations are based in McCook, Illinois, while its final assembly line is located in Muncie. EMD also operates a traction motor maintenance, rebuild and overhaul facility in San Luis Potosí, as of 2008, EMD employed approximately 3,260 people, and in 2010 it held approximately 30 percent of the market for diesel-electric locomotives in North America. Harold L. Hamilton and Paul Turner founded the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922, the company developed and marketed self-propelled railcars using General Electrics newly developed internal combustion-electric propulsion and control systems. Hamilton started his career as a fireman, then locomotive engineer, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Financing himself, he quit his sales position and set up shop in a hotel with his partner. In 1923 EMC sold two gasoline-powered rail motor cars, one to the Chicago Great Western and the other to the Northern Pacific, EMC subcontracted the body construction to St. Louis Car Company, electrical components to General Electric, and the prime mover to Winton Engine Company. The motorcars were delivered in 1924 and worked well, fortunate for the fledgling company, in 1925, EMC entered full-scale production, selling 27 railcars. In 1930 General Motors was seeking to improve their Diesel technology and they purchased the Winton Engine Company who, in addition to their Diesel products, sold non-Diesel engines for EMC-developed rail motorcars. The combined resources of GM and their new Winton subsidiary were focused on developing Diesel engines with improved power-to-weight ratios, GM saw EMCs role in marketing and applications development as fitting their objectives and purchased the company shortly after the Winton acquisition, renaming it Electro-Motive Corporation. In 1933 EMC designed the power setups for the Zephyr and M-10000 streamliners, the Zephyr used the first major product of the new GM-Winton venture, the 600 hp Winton 201A 2-stroke Diesel engine. Encouraged by the success of the new streamliners, EMC invested in a new locomotive factory. The new headquarters on 55th Street in McCook, Illinois, west of Chicago, in 1938 EMC started production of locomotives using GMs new 567 engine, which upgraded the horsepower to 2000 per locomotive unit and increased reliability. The 567, named for its displacement-per-cylinder of 567.45 in³, was a two-cycle Roots-blown, Uniflow-scavenged, Unit-injected engine with overhead camshafts and it was built as a V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16. Charles F. Kettering and the General Motors Research Corporation were in charge of its development and their nearest competitor was the American Locomotive Company, who started production of less-developed Diesel locomotives to compete with the E-units in 1939. Baldwins response to the challenge of the E-units was to develop a steam locomotive design that pushed beyond the limits of practicality, passenger trains made little money for the railroads, but replacement of steam engines with reliable Diesel units could provide railroads with a crucial difference for profitability

16.
Diesel engine
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Diesel engines work by compressing only the air. This increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a degree that it ignites atomised diesel fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber. This contrasts with spark-ignition engines such as an engine or gas engine. In diesel engines, glow plugs may be used to aid starting in cold weather, or when the engine uses a lower compression-ratio, the original diesel engine operates on the constant pressure cycle of gradual combustion and produces no audible knock. Low-speed diesel engines can have an efficiency that exceeds 50%. Diesel engines may be designed as either two-stroke or four-stroke cycles and they were originally used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines. Since the 1910s they have used in submarines and ships. Use in locomotives, trucks, heavy equipment and electricity generation plants followed later, in the 1930s, they slowly began to be used in a few automobiles. Since the 1970s, the use of engines in larger on-road and off-road vehicles in the US increased. According to the British Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders, the EU average for diesel cars accounts for 50% of the total sold, including 70% in France and 38% in the UK. The worlds largest diesel engine is currently a Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C Common Rail marine diesel, the definition of a Diesel engine to many has become an engine that uses compression ignition. To some it may be an engine that uses heavy fuel oil, to others an engine that does not use spark ignition. However the original cycle proposed by Rudolf Diesel in 1892 was a constant temperature cycle which would require higher compression than what is needed for compression ignition. Diesels idea was to compress the air so tightly that the temperature of the air would exceed that of combustion, to make this more clear, let it be assumed that the subsequent combustion shall take place at a temperature of 700°. Then in that case the pressure must be sixty-four atmospheres, or for 800° centigrade the pressure must be ninety atmospheres. In later years Diesel realized his original cycle would not work, Diesel describes the cycle in his 1895 patent application. Notice that there is no longer a mention of compression temperatures exceeding the temperature of combustion, now all that is mentioned is the compression must be high enough for ignition. In 1806 Claude and Nicéphore Niépce developed the first known internal combustion engine, the Pyréolophore fuel system used a blast of air provided by a bellows to atomize Lycopodium

17.
Reduction gear
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A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so that the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission of rotation from one gear to the next. The transmission of rotation between contacting toothed wheels can be traced back to the Antikythera mechanism of Greece and the chariot of China. Illustrations by the Renaissance scientist Georgius Agricola show gear trains with cylindrical teeth, the implementation of the involute tooth yielded a standard gear design that provides a constant speed ratio. Features of gears and gear trains include, The ratio of the circles of mating gears defines the speed ratio. A planetary gear train provides high gear reduction in a compact package and it is possible to design gear teeth for gears that are non-circular, yet still transmit torque smoothly. The speed ratios of chain and belt drives are computed in the way as gear ratios. Gear teeth are designed so that the number of teeth on a gear is proportional to the radius of its pitch circle, and so that the pitch circles of meshing gears roll on each other without slipping. The speed ratio for a pair of meshing gears can be computed from ratio of the radii of the pitch circles and the ratio of the number of teeth on each gear. Therefore, ω A ω B = r B r A = N B N A. where NA is the number of teeth on the input gear and NB is the number of teeth on the output gear. The mechanical advantage of a pair of meshing gears for which the gear has NA teeth. This shows that if the output gear GB has more teeth than the input gear GA, and, if the output gear has fewer teeth than the input gear, then the gear train reduces the input torque. If the output gear of a gear train rotates more slowly than the input gear, in this case, because the output gear must have more teeth than the input gear, the speed reducer amplifies the input torque. For this analysis, we consider a gear train that has one degree-of-freedom, let R be the speed ratio, then ω A ω B = R. The input torque TA acting on the input gear GA is transformed by the train into the output torque TB exerted by the output gear GB. This shows that if the gear rotates faster than the output gear. And, if the gear rotates slower than the output gear. The simplest example of a train has two gears

18.
Propeller
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A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Their disadvantages are higher mechanical complexity and higher cost, the principle employed in using a screw propeller is used in sculling. It is part of the skill of propelling a Venetian gondola but was used in a less refined way in parts of Europe. For example, propelling a canoe with a paddle using a pitch stroke or side slipping a canoe with a scull involves a similar technique. In China, sculling, called lu, was used by the 3rd century AD. In sculling, a blade is moved through an arc. The innovation introduced with the propeller was the extension of that arc through more than 360° by attaching the blade to a rotating shaft. Propellers can have a blade, but in practice there are nearly always more than one so as to balance the forces involved. The origin of the screw propeller starts with Archimedes, who used a screw to lift water for irrigation and bailing boats and it was probably an application of spiral movement in space to a hollow segmented water-wheel used for irrigation by Egyptians for centuries. Leonardo da Vinci adopted the principle to drive his theoretical helicopter, in 1784, J. P. Paucton proposed a gyrocopter-like aircraft using similar screws for both lift and propulsion. At about the time, James Watt proposed using screws to propel boats. This was not his own invention, though, Toogood and Hays had patented it a century earlier, by 1827, Czech-Austrian inventor Josef Ressel had invented a screw propeller which had multiple blades fastened around a conical base. He had tested his propeller in February 1826 on a ship that was manually driven. He was successful in using his bronze screw propeller on an adapted steamboat and his ship Civetta with 48 gross register tons, reached a speed of about six knots. This was the first ship successfully driven by an Archimedes screw-type propeller, after a new steam engine had an accident his experiments were banned by the Austro-Hungarian police as dangerous. Josef Ressel was at the time a forestry inspector for the Austrian Empire, but before this he received an Austro-Hungarian patent for his propeller. This new method of propulsion was an improvement over the paddlewheel as it was not so affected by either ship motions or changes in draft as the burned coal

19.
Knot (unit)
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The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, approximately 1.151 mph. The ISO Standard symbol for the knot is kn, the same symbol is preferred by the IEEE, kt is also common. The knot is a unit that is accepted for use with the SI. Etymologically, the term derives from counting the number of knots in the line that unspooled from the reel of a log in a specific time. 1 international knot =1 nautical mile per hour,1.852 kilometres per hour,0.514 metres per second,1.151 miles per hour,20.254 inches per second,1852 m is the length of the internationally agreed nautical mile. The US adopted the definition in 1954, having previously used the US nautical mile. The UK adopted the international nautical mile definition in 1970, having used the UK Admiralty nautical mile. The speeds of vessels relative to the fluids in which they travel are measured in knots, for consistency, the speeds of navigational fluids are also measured in knots. Thus, speed over the ground and rate of progress towards a distant point are given in knots. Until the mid-19th century, vessel speed at sea was measured using a chip log, the chip log was cast over the stern of the moving vessel and the line allowed to pay out. Knots placed at a distance of 8 fathoms -47 feet 3 inches from each other, passed through a sailors fingers, the knot count would be reported and used in the sailing masters dead reckoning and navigation. This method gives a value for the knot of 20.25 in/s, the difference from the modern definition is less than 0. 02%. On a chart of the North Atlantic, the scale varies by a factor of two from Florida to Greenland, a single graphic scale, of the sort on many maps, would therefore be useless on such a chart. Recent British Admiralty charts have a latitude scale down the middle to make this even easier, speed is sometimes incorrectly expressed as knots per hour, which is in fact a measure of acceleration. Prior to 1969, airworthiness standards for aircraft in the United States Federal Aviation Regulations specified that distances were to be in statute miles. In 1969, these standards were amended to specify that distances were to be in nautical miles. At 11000 m, an airspeed of 300 kn may correspond to a true airspeed of 500 kn in standard conditions. Beaufort scale Hull speed, which deals with theoretical estimates of maximum speed of displacement hulls Knot count Knotted cord Metre per second Orders of magnitude Rope Kemp

20.
Kilometres per hour
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The kilometre per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of kilometres travelled in one hour. Worldwide, it is the most commonly used unit of speed on road signs, the Dutch on the other hand adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local name of the mijl. The SI representations, classified as symbols, are km/h, km h−1 and km·h−1, the use of abbreviations dates back to antiquity, but abbreviations for kilometres per hour did not appear in the English language until the late nineteenth century. The kilometre, a unit of length, first appeared in English in 1810, kilometres per hour did not begin to be abbreviated in print until many years later, with several different abbreviations existing near-contemporaneously. For example, news organisations such as Reuters and The Economist require kph, in Australian unofficial usage, km/h is sometimes pronounced and written as klicks or clicks. The use of symbols to replace words dates back to at least the medieval era when Johannes Widman, writing in German in 1486. In the early 1800s Berzelius introduced a symbolic notation for the chemical elements derived from the elements Latin names, typically, Na was used for the element sodium and H2O for water. In 1879, four years after the signing of the Treaty of the Metre, among these were the use of the symbol km for kilometre. In 1948, as part of its work for the SI. The SI explicitly states that unit symbols are not abbreviations and are to be using a very specific set of rules. Hence the name of the unit can be replaced by a kind of algebraic symbol and this symbol is not merely an abbreviation but a symbol which, like chemical symbols, must be used in a precise and prescribed manner. SI, and hence the use of km/h has now been adopted around the world in areas related to health and safety. It is also the system of measure in academia and in education. During the early years of the car, each country developed its own system of road signs. In 1968 the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals was drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations Economic, many countries have since signed the convention and adopted its proposals. The use of SI implicitly required that states use km/h as the shorthand for kilometres per hour on official documents. Examples include, Dutch, kilometer per uur, Portuguese, quilómetro por hora Greek, in 1988 the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promulgated a rule stating that MPH and/or km/h were to be used in speedometer displays. On May 15,2000 this was clarified to read MPH, or MPH, however, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101 allows any combination of upper- and lowercase letters to represent the units

21.
Miles per hour
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Miles per hour is an imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of statute miles covered in one hour. Miles per hour is the also used in the Canadian rail system. In some countries mph may be used to express the speed of delivery of a ball in sporting events such as cricket, tennis, road traffic speeds in other countries are indicated in kilometres per hour, while occasionally both systems are used. For example, in Ireland, a considered a speeding case by examining speeds in both kilometres per hour and miles per hour. The judge was quoted as saying the speed seemed very excessive at 180 km/h but did not look as bad at 112 mph, nautical and aeronautical applications, however, favour the knot as a common unit of speed. 1 Mph =0.000277778 Mps Example, Apollo 11 attained speeds of 25,000 Mph, if Apollo 11 were to travel at 25,000 Mph from New York to Los Angeles it would reach Los Angeles in under 6 minutes

22.
LCVP (United States)
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The landing craft, vehicle, personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins based on boats made for operating in swamps, more than 20,000 were built, by Higgins Industries and licensees. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry a platoon-sized complement of 36 men to shore at 9 knots. Men generally entered the boat by climbing down a cargo net hung from the side of their troop transport, they exited by charging down the boats bow ramp. Satisfactory in most respects, the major drawback appeared to be that equipment had to be unloaded. However, it was put into production and service as the craft, personnel. The LCP had two gun positions at the bow. The LCP, commonly called the U-boat or the Higgins boat, was supplied to the British, to whom it was known as the R-boat. Within one month, tests of the ramp-bow Eureka boat in Lake Pontchartrain showed conclusively that successful operation of such a boat was feasible and this boat became the Landing Craft, Personnel or LCP. The machine gun positions were still at the front of the boat, the design was still not ideal, because the ramp was a bottleneck for the troops, as was the case with the British Landing Craft Assault of the year before. The next step was to fit a full-width ramp, now troops could leave en masse and a small vehicle such as a Jeep could be carried, this new version became the LCVP, or simply, the Higgins boat. The machine gun positions were moved to the rear of the boat, at just over 36 ft long and just under 11 ft wide, the LCVP was not a large craft. Powered by a 225-horsepower Diesel engine at 12 knots, it would sway in choppy seas, since its sides and rear were made of plywood, it offered limited protection from enemy fire. The Higgins boat could hold either a 36-man platoon, a jeep and its shallow draft enabled it to run up onto the shoreline, and a semi-tunnel built into its hull protected the propeller from sand and other debris. The steel ramp at the front could be lowered quickly and it was possible for the Higgins boat to swiftly disembark men and supplies, reverse itself off the beach, and head back out to the supply ship for another load within three to four minutes. If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach, the whole strategy of the war would have been different. Only a few Higgins boats have survived, often with modifications for post-War use. A remarkably preserved Higgins boat, with the original Higgins motor, was discovered in a yard in Valdez, Alaska

23.
Pound (mass)
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The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement. The international standard symbol for the pound is lb. The unit is descended from the Roman libra, the English word pound is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pund. All ultimately derive from a borrowing into Proto-Germanic of the Latin expression lībra pondō, usage of the unqualified term pound reflects the historical conflation of mass and weight. This accounts for the modern distinguishing terms pound-mass and pound-force, the United States and countries of the Commonwealth of Nations agreed upon common definitions for the pound and the yard. Since 1 July 1959, the avoirdupois pound has been defined as exactly 0.45359237 kg. In the United Kingdom, the use of the pound was implemented in the Weights and Measures Act 1963.9144 metre exactly. An avoirdupois pound is equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces and to exactly 7,000 grains, the conversion factor between the kilogram and the international pound was therefore chosen to be divisible by 7, and an grain is thus equal to exactly 64.79891 milligrams. The US has not adopted the system despite many efforts to do so. Historically, in different parts of the world, at different points in time, and for different applications, the libra is an ancient Roman unit of mass that was equivalent to approximately 328.9 grams. It was divided into 12 unciae, or ounces, the libra is the origin of the abbreviation for pound, lb. A number of different definitions of the pound have historically used in Britain. Amongst these were the avoirdupois pound and the tower, merchants. Historically, the sterling was a tower pound of silver. In 1528, the standard was changed to the Troy pound, the avoirdupois pound, also known as the wool pound, first came into general use c. It was initially equal to 6992 troy grains, the pound avoirdupois was divided into 16 ounces. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the pound was redefined as 7,000 troy grains. Since then, the grain has often been a part of the avoirdupois system

24.
Kilogram
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The kilogram or kilogramme is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype of the Kilogram. The avoirdupois pound, used in both the imperial and US customary systems, is defined as exactly 0.45359237 kg, making one kilogram approximately equal to 2.2046 avoirdupois pounds. Other traditional units of weight and mass around the world are also defined in terms of the kilogram, the gram, 1/1000 of a kilogram, was provisionally defined in 1795 as the mass of one cubic centimeter of water at the melting point of ice. The final kilogram, manufactured as a prototype in 1799 and from which the IPK was derived in 1875, had an equal to the mass of 1 dm3 of water at its maximum density. The kilogram is the only SI base unit with an SI prefix as part of its name and it is also the only SI unit that is still directly defined by an artifact rather than a fundamental physical property that can be reproduced in different laboratories. Three other base units and 17 derived units in the SI system are defined relative to the kilogram, only 8 other units do not require the kilogram in their definition, temperature, time and frequency, length, and angle. At its 2011 meeting, the CGPM agreed in principle that the kilogram should be redefined in terms of the Planck constant, the decision was originally deferred until 2014, in 2014 it was deferred again until the next meeting. There are currently several different proposals for the redefinition, these are described in the Proposed Future Definitions section below, the International Prototype Kilogram is rarely used or handled. In the decree of 1795, the term gramme thus replaced gravet, the French spelling was adopted in the United Kingdom when the word was used for the first time in English in 1797, with the spelling kilogram being adopted in the United States. In the United Kingdom both spellings are used, with kilogram having become by far the more common, UK law regulating the units to be used when trading by weight or measure does not prevent the use of either spelling. In the 19th century the French word kilo, a shortening of kilogramme, was imported into the English language where it has used to mean both kilogram and kilometer. In 1935 this was adopted by the IEC as the Giorgi system, now known as MKS system. In 1948 the CGPM commissioned the CIPM to make recommendations for a practical system of units of measurement. This led to the launch of SI in 1960 and the subsequent publication of the SI Brochure, the kilogram is a unit of mass, a property which corresponds to the common perception of how heavy an object is. Mass is a property, that is, it is related to the tendency of an object at rest to remain at rest, or if in motion to remain in motion at a constant velocity. Accordingly, for astronauts in microgravity, no effort is required to hold objects off the cabin floor, they are weightless. However, since objects in microgravity still retain their mass and inertia, the ratio of the force of gravity on the two objects, measured by the scale, is equal to the ratio of their masses. On April 7,1795, the gram was decreed in France to be the weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of the metre

25.
Cargo
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Multi-modal container units, designed as reusable carriers to facilitate unit load handling of the goods contained, are also referred to as cargo, specially by shipping lines and logistics operators. Similarly, aircraft ULD boxes are also documented as cargo, with associated packing list of the contained within. When empty containers are shipped each unit is documented as a cargo and when goods are stored within, seaport terminals handle a wide range of maritime cargo. Automobiles are handled at many ports and are carried on specialized roll-on/roll-off ships. Break bulk cargo is typically stacked on pallets and lifted into. The volume of bulk cargo has declined dramatically worldwide as containerization has grown. One way to secure break bulk and freight in intermodal containers is by using Dunnage Bags, bulk cargo, such as salt, oil, tallow, and scrap metal, is usually defined as commodities that are neither on pallets nor in containers. Bulk cargoes are not handled as individual pieces, the way heavy-lift, alumina, grain, gypsum, logs, and wood chips, for instance, are bulk cargoes. Neo-bulk cargo comprises individual units that are counted as they are loaded and unloaded, in contrast to bulk cargo that is not counted, containers are the largest and fastest growing cargo category at most ports worldwide. Containerized cargo includes everything from auto parts, machinery and manufacturing components to shoes and toys to frozen meat, air cargo, commonly known as air freight, is collected by firms from shippers and delivered to customers. Aircraft were first used for carrying mail as cargo in 1911, eventually manufacturers started designing aircraft for other types of freight as well. There are many commercial aircraft suitable for carrying cargo such as the Boeing 747 and the bigger An‑124, such large aircraft employ quick-loading containers known as unit load devices, much like containerized cargo ships. The ULDs are located in the front section of the aircraft, most nations own and utilize large numbers of military cargo aircraft such as the C‑17 Globemaster III for logistical needs. Popular commercial aircraft transformed to an aircraft such as Saab 340A is designed for high revenue. Trains are capable of transporting a number of containers that come from shipping ports. Trains are also used for the transportation of water, cement, grain, steel, wood and they are used because they can carry a large amount and generally have a direct route to the destination. Under the right circumstances, freight transport by rail is more economic and energy efficient than by road, the main disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility. For this reason, rail has lost much of the business to road transport

26.
Commissioned officer
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An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel, in 2013, officers were the senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13. 7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, historically, however, armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers, in the early twentieth century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12. 5%. Within a nations armed forces, armies tend to have a proportion of officers. For example,13. 9% of British army personnel and 22. 2% of the RAF personnel were officers in 2013, having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, a superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. Non-commissioned officers in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se, many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors, while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers, the first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into the officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. The third route is similar to the second, in that they convert from an enlisted to a commission, but these are taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers, in the infantry, a number of Warrant Officer Class 1s are commissioned as LE officers. For Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer candidates, a 30-week period at Britannia Royal Naval College or a 30-week period at RAF College Cranwell, Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a grueling 15-month course. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management, etiquette, until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, AOCS also also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate and Naval Aviation Cadet programs. NAVCADs were personnel who held associates degrees, but lacked bachelors degrees, nAVCADs would complete the entire AOCS program, but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial tour, they would be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelors degree

27.
Enlisted man
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An enlisted rank is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. In most cases, enlisted service personnel perform jobs specific to their own occupational specialty, the term enlistment refers solely to a military commitment whereas the terms taken of strength and struck off strength refer to a servicemember being carried on a given units roll. In the Canadian Forces, the term non-commissioned member is used, for the ranks used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, non-commissioned ranks are coded OR1–OR9, OR being an abbreviation for Other Ranks. The five branches of the U. S, armed Forces all use the same E- designation for enlisted pay grades, with service-specific names applied to each. Each branch incorporates it as part of a service members job specialty designator

28.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32

29.
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon and this used a 20x70 RB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of weapons in Germany. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, the Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG. In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the product line. This fired a larger cartridge to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s, at the cost of increased weight. The purpose of development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930, three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, the 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds. In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft, designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning wing-mounted, these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of fire of 470 rpm. Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, for the FF series drum sizes of 45,60,75 and 100 rounds were available, but most users chose the 60-round drum. The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon

30.
Adak Island
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Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaskas southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island, the island has a land area of 274.59 square miles, measuring 33.9 miles on length and 22 miles on width, making it the 25th largest island in the United States. Due to harsh winds, frequent cloud cover, and cold temperatures, the highest point is Mt. Moffett, near the northwest end of the island, at an elevation of 3,924 feet. It is snow covered the part of the year. Adak, Alaska is its largest and principal city, the word Adak is from the Aleut word adaq, which means father. Adak Island has been the home to Aleut peoples since ancient times, russian explorers in the 18th century also visited the island but made no permanent settlements. During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army took control of two of the westernmost Aleutian Islands - Attu and Kiska, the Japanese also attacked the American base at Dutch Harbor by air. The Japanese campaign coincided with the more well-known Battle of Midway, in response, the United States military began a campaign to oust the invaders. Since the nearest U. S. military presence was in Cold Bay, Alaska, Adak Island was chosen as the site of an airfield, and flight operations began in September 1942. Expecting a similar battle for Kiska Island, U. S. soldiers landing there August 15,1943 found the occupiers had been evacuated by Japanese naval forces since the end of May,1943. Even so, over 313 American soldiers died from friendly fire, mines, in 1953, remains of 236 Japanese dead who had been buried in Adak Cemetery were reburied in Japans Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. Adak Naval Air Station continued to be a base during the Cold War but was designated a Base Realignment and Closure site in 1995. Shortly thereafter, the town of Adak was incorporated at the site of the former base. Down from a population of 6,000, the island recorded a 2010 census population of 326 residents, all in the city of Adak. In 1980, the Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge was created, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game introduced approximately 200 caribou to the island to help prevent emergency famine. The now large caribou herd is a popular hunting destination, Adak lies in the maritime climate zone, characterized by persistently overcast skies, moderated temperatures, high winds, and frequent cyclonic storms. At Adak, overcast conditions average nearly 75% of the time during June and July, Adak averages 173 days per year with fog. The foggiest months are July and August when an average of 26 of the 31 days have fog and this number drops dramatically toward the winter season where the months of December through March have, on average, fewer than ten days with fog during any one month

31.
Guam
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Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy has been supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top

32.
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
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They were the first steps of the drive across the central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The purpose was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow air, operations Galvanic and Kourbash were the code names for the Gilberts campaign that included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin. Operations Flintlock and Catchpole were aimed at capturing Japanese Bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, the Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Gilbert Islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They built a base on Makin and dispersed troops along the coastlines of the atolls to monitor the Allied forces movement in the South Pacific. Approximately 220 miles northwest of the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands were also occupied by the Japanese, Allied commanders knew that an eventual surrender of Japan would require penetration of these islands. While commander of the U. S. Army General Douglas MacArthur wanted to push towards the Philippines via New Guinea and these outer islands included the atolls of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilberts, and Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls. Following Carlsons Raiders diversionary Makin Island raid and the defeat at Guadalcanal, fortifications were quickly improved by the Japanese, starting in March 1943. Makin Atoll had a base built on the main island of Butaritari, while Tarawa housed barely enough room for an airfield on its largest island. Lieutenant Junior Grade Seizo Ishikawa, the Japanese commander in charge of defending Makin and these included 8-inch coastal defense guns, 37-mm anti-tank gun positions, machine gun emplacements, rifle pits, 15-foot deep tank barriers with anti-tank guns, and barbed wire. These were designed to hold the island until reinforcements could arrive, on Tarawa, Shibasaki Keiji had 4,836 troops, including around 2,600 Special Naval Landing Forces,1,000 Japanese construction workers, and 1,200 Korean laborers. He planned to use units to primarily defend Betio, the largest island in the atoll. Betio was the site of a crucial Japanese airfield, after the Gilberts fell to the Americans in late November 1943, Admiral Mineichi Koga of the Japanese Combined Fleet was unsure of which islands the Americans would strike. Without any carrier aircraft to him, he ordered Admiral Masashi Kobayashi to disperse his 28,000 troops primarily to the outer islands of Maloelap, Wotje, Jaliuit. However, Allied intelligence intercepted Imperial code, informing the Americans of which islands were heavily defended. The Americans decided to invade the least protected but strategically important islands of Majuro, Kwajalein, as early as November, B-24s from the 7th Air Force stationed in the Ellice Islands had flown bombing missions over Mili and Maloelap. Four transports and fifty Japanese aircraft were lost, but the attack lacked strategic value, fearing a counterattack from Wotje, Pownall ordered a second strike against the island. The Japanese did counterattack via a bombing strike, in which Lexington sustained a torpedo hit but was not sunk. The task force returned to Pearl Harbor

33.
Battle of Kwajalein
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The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of a garrison of 3,500. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense, Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US. Kwajalein Atoll is in the heart of the Marshall Islands and it lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nmi southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii at 8°43′N 167°44′E. Kwajalein is the worlds largest coral atoll and comprises 93 islands and islets, it has an area of 1,560 acres. The two most significant land masses are Kwajalein Island in the south, and the islands of Roi-Namur in the north. By the start of World War II, the Marshalls were already a part of the Japanese perimeter of defense. Its facilities were being utilized as outlying bases for submarines and surface warships, as well as for air staging for future advances being planned against Ellice, the Fiji Islands, and Samoa. After the capture of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and these islands had been Imperial German colonies, after their purchase from Spain in 1899. At the end of World War I, however, they were assigned to Japan in the settlement as the Eastern Mandates. The islands then became a mystery because the Japanese closed them to the outside world and it was presumed the Japanese had built illegal fortifications throughout the islands, but the precise extent of such fortifications was unknown. Japan regarded them as part of the ring of their territory. The strategic importance of the Marshalls had been recognized as early as 1921 in Plan Orange, the Marshalls were a key step in the island-hopping march to the Japanese mainland. After losing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to the Allies in 1943 and they preferred fighting a decisive battle closer to home. Nevertheless, the Marshalls were reinforced at the end of 1943 to make their capture more costly for the Americans, by January 1944, the regional commander in Truk, Admiral Masashi Kobayashi, had 28,000 troops to defend the Marshalls, although he had very few aircraft. The 6th Base Force, under the command of Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama, Akiyama, however, had his men spread out over a very wide area, with IJN air bases located on Roi-Namur, Mille, Maloelap, Eniwetok, and Wotje

34.
Battle of Hollandia
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The Battle of Hollandia was an engagement between American and Japanese forces during World War II. It took place in spring of 1944 and was part of the New Guinea campaign, the landings were undertaken simultaneously with the amphibious landings at Aitape to the east. Hollandia was a port on the north coast of New Guinea, part of the Dutch East Indies, Hollandia was situated on the east side of a headland separating Humboldt Bay to the east and Tanahmerah Bay,25 miles to the west. The town itself was on the shore of Humboldt Bay, with a first-class anchorage, the headland was formed by the Cyclops Mountains, a mountain ridge rising steeply to 7,000 ft and was backed by a Lake Sentani, extending 15 miles east to west. Between the mountain ridge and the lake was a narrow plain, the port and airfields were the base for units of the Japanese 2nd Army and the 6th Air Division of the 4th Air Army. These totalled 14,000 men under the command of Maj. Gen, to overcome this force the US 6th Army committed its 1st Corps under Lt. Gen. RL Eichelberger, some 50,000 men and a task force of 200 vessels of 7th Fleet under Rear Adm. DE Barbey. The main landings would be at Tanahmerah Bay comprising the 19th and 21st Regimental Combat Teams of the US 24th Division, on 30 March and continuing to 3 April these air forces attacked Hollandia itself and the airfields on the Sentani plain. Achieving complete surprise they were able to destroy nearly 100 aircraft on the ground, the landings took place at dawn on 22 April after a supporting naval bombardment at each site. At Tanahmerah Bay the two RCT’s from 24 Div. were able to land without opposition, but found the beach to be highly unsuitable, after four days under these conditions the two units had reached the western airfield and on 26 April it was secured. There was some opposition as they pressed forward, but by 24 April they had reached the lake, the two forces linked up the same day. None of the officers present had been in post more than a few weeks. Neither Kitazono nor Endo had been able to prepare a defence plan. On the other hand, the Allied operation had been over-insured, operation Reckless was an unqualified success, and the loss of Hollandia made the Japanese strategic defence line at Wakde, to the west, and all Japanese positions to the east untenable. Meanwhile, the Allies quickly made the Sentani airfields operational and were able to mount bombing raids on Japanese positions as far west as Biak, the landings at Hollandia and Aitape were followed just four weeks later by landings at Wakde, Sarmi and Toem, to the west. Indonesia in World War II Kirby, S. Woodburn, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. The United States Army in World War II, United States Army Center of Military History. Media related to Landing at Hollandia at Wikimedia Commons

35.
Battle of Guam (1944)
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Guam, at 212 square miles, is the largest island of the Marianas, with a length of 32 miles and a width ranging from 12 miles to 4 miles at different points of the island. It had been a United States possession since its capture from Spain in 1898 until it was captured by the Japanese on 10 December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not as heavily fortified as the other Mariana Islands such as Saipan that had been Japanese possessions since the end of World War I, the invasion of Saipan was scheduled for 15 June 1944, with landings on Guam tentatively set for 18 June. The original timetable was optimistic, however, a large Japanese carrier attack and stubborn resistance by the unexpectedly large Japanese garrison on Saipan led to the invasion of Guam being postponed for a month. U. S. naval and air bombardments lasted from 11–13 June 1944, involving 216 carrier aircraft, on the 12th and 13th of the month,12 Japanese cargo ships and several fishing vessels were sunk. On June 27, U. S. battleships started shelling the island, joined by a U. S. carrier group on 4 July, Guam, ringed by reefs, cliffs, and heavy surf, presents a formidable challenge for an attacker. Underwater demolition teams reconnoitered the beaches and removed obstacles from 14–17 July, despite the obstacles, on 21 July, the American forces landed on both sides of the Orote Peninsula on the western side of Guam, planning to secure Apra Harbor. The 3rd Marine Division landed near Agana to the north of Orote at 08,29, and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed near Agat to the south. Japanese artillery sank 20 U. S. LVTs and inflicted casualties on the landing troops, especially of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. Marines and soldiers had established beachheads about 6,600 feet deep, Japanese counterattacks were made throughout the first few days of the battle, mostly at night, using infiltration tactics. Several times the Japanese penetrated the American defenses and were back with heavy losses of men. The U. S. Armys 77th Infantry Division had a difficult landing on 23–24 July. Lacking amphibious vehicles, they had to wade ashore from the edge of the reef where the landing craft dropped them off, the men stationed in the two beachheads were pinned down by heavy Japanese fire, making initial progress inland quite slow. Supply was very difficult for the troops on Guam in the first days of the battle. Landing ships could not come closer than the reef, several hundred yards from the beach, the next day, General Obata reported, our forces failed to achieve the desired objectives. Lieutenant General Takeshi Takashina was killed on 28 July, and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata took over the command of the Japanese defenders, on 28 July, the two beachheads were linked, and by 29 July, the Americans secured the peninsula. The Japanese counterattacks against the American beachheads, as well as the fighting, had exhausted the Japanese. At the start of August, they were running out of food, the Tiyan Airfield was captured on 1 Aug

36.
Battle of Iwo Jima
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The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II, after the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U. S. Army as a staging base, however, Navy Seabees rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s. The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions. The American ground forces were supported by naval artillery, and had complete air supremacy provided by U. S. Navy. Japanese combat deaths numbered three times the number of American deaths, although uniquely among Pacific War Marine battles, American total casualties exceeded those of the Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Joe Rosenthals Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U. S. flag on top of the 169 m Mount Suribachi by six U. S, Marines became an iconic image of the battle and the American war effort in the Pacific. All indications pointed to an American drive toward the Mariana Islands, in March 1944, the Japanese 31st Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was activated to garrison this inner line. The commander of the Japanese garrison on Chichi Jima was placed nominally in command of Army, after the American conquest of the Marianas, daily bomber raids from the Marianas hit the mainland as part of Operation Scavenger. Iwo Jima served as an early warning station that radioed reports of incoming bombers back to mainland Japan and this allowed Japanese air defenses to prepare for the arrival of American bombers. At the same time, with reinforcements arriving from Chichi Jima and the home islands, in addition, it was used by the Japanese to stage air attacks on the Mariana Islands from November 1944 through January 1945. The capture of Iwo Jima would eliminate these problems and provide an area for Operation Downfall – the eventual invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. The distance of B-29 raids could be cut in half, American intelligence sources were confident that Iwo Jima would fall in one week. In light of the intelligence reports, the decision was made to invade Iwo Jima. American forces were unaware that the Japanese were preparing a complex and deep defense, by June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. While drawing inspiration from the defense in the Battle of Peleliu, takeichi Nishis armored tanks were to be used as camouflaged artillery positions. This network of bunkers and pillboxes favored the defense, for instance, The Nanpo Bunker, which was located east of Airfield Number 2, had enough food, water and ammo for the Japanese to hold out for three months

37.
Battle of Okinawa
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The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own air force. The battle has been referred to as the typhoon of steel in English, the nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks, and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific, with an total of over 82,000 direct casualties on both sides,14,009 Allied deaths and 77,417 Japanese soldiers. Allied grave registration forces counted 110,071 dead bodies of Japanese soldiers,149,425 Okinawans were killed, committed suicide or went missing, a significant proportion of the estimated pre-war 300,000 local population. As part of the operations surrounding the battle, the Japanese battleship Yamato was sunk. After the battle, Okinawa provided an anchorage, troop staging areas. Expeditionary Troops under Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. with Tenth Army, TF56 was the largest force within TF50 and was built around the 10th Army. The army had two corps under its command, III Amphibious Corps, consisting of 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, the 2nd Marine Division was an afloat reserve, and Tenth Army also controlled the 27th Infantry Division, earmarked as a garrison, and 77th Infantry Divisions. In all, the Army had over 102,000 soldiers, at the start of Battle of Okinawa 10th Army had 182,821 men under its command. It was planned that General Buckner would report to Turner until the phase was completed. Although Allied land forces were composed of U. S. units. Although all the carriers were provided by Britain, the carrier group was a combined British Commonwealth fleet with British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian ships. Their mission was to neutralize Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands, most of the air-to-air fighters and the small dive bombers and strike aircraft were U. S. Navy carrier-based airplanes. The Japanese land campaign was conducted by the 67, 000-strong regular 32nd Army and some 9,000 Imperial Japanese Navy troops at Oroku naval base, supported by 39,000 drafted local Ryukyuan people. The Japanese had used kamikaze tactics since the Battle of Leyte Gulf, between the American landing on 1 April and 25 May, seven major kamikaze attacks were attempted, involving more than 1,500 planes. The 32nd Army initially consisted of the 9th, 24th, and 62nd Divisions, the 9th Division was moved to Taiwan prior to the invasion, resulting in shuffling of Japanese defensive plans. Primary resistance was to be led in the south by Lt. General Mitsuru Ushijima, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Isamu Chō and his chief of operations, Yahara advocated a defensive strategy, whilst Chō advocated an offensive one

38.
Combat Action Ribbon
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The Combat Action Ribbon, is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard military decoration. The Coast Guard CAR was authorized on 16 July 2008 and may be awarded to members of the Coast Guard in the grade of captain and below, who have actively participated in ground or maritime combat. The Navy Combat Action Ribbon is retroactive to 7 December 1941, the Combat Action Ribbon is awarded only to individual service members. The CAR is not awarded to a unit, station. To be considered for a Combat Action Ribbon, evidence must establish the military member engaged the enemy, was under hostile fire, a service members mere presence in an area where combat is occurring or in a designated combat zone does not qualify the member for the award. The Combat Action Ribbon is an award, unlike other services. Compare, The U. S. Army equivalent to the Combat Action Ribbon is the Combat Action Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge, a U. S. Air Force combat participant is awarded the Air Force Combat Action Medal. The Combat Action Ribbon is worn in order of precedence on a members ribbon rack displayed on the side of a service members uniform. Only one Combat Action Ribbon is authorized, additional combat action awards are signified with an appropriate 5⁄16 inch gold star attached to the CAR. Some private companies selling replacement decorations or awards also advertise for sale, e. g. a commemorative combat action medal, combat tribute, some medallions are stylized from elements of various military combat action awards. Such medallions are considered decorative, have no military significance or recognition. The CAR is currently authorized with a U. S. Navy, the Navy version covers the Navy and Marine Corps service members from when the CAR was established in 1969, and made retroactive from December 7,1941 forward. Year 2009 forward, Coast Guard members who perform in combat are awarded the Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon. The Navy Combat Action Ribbon was established during the Vietnam War by a Secretary of the Navy Notice, dated February 17,1969 with retroactive award to March 1,1961. The Navy CAR is awarded to members of the Navy and Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel with the grade of captain/colonel and below, sailors and Marines in clandestine or special operations where their ability to return fire is curtailed may be deemed eligible. Previously it applied only to exposure to IEDs detonated by the enemy, eligibility under this criterion is retroactive only to 7 October 2001. Additional awards of the Navy CAR are denoted by 5⁄16 inch gold stars on the ribbon, World War II and Korean War In October 1999, World War II and Korean War veterans became retroactively eligible for the Navy Combat Action Ribbon by Public Law 106-65 on Oct. Two specific blocks of time were designated by then SECNAV Danzig, Dec.7

39.
American Campaign Medal
–
The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6,1942 by Executive Order 9265 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had performed military service in the American Theater of Operations during World War II. A similar medal, known as the American Defense Service Medal was awarded for active duty prior to the United States entry into World War II. The American Campaign Medal was established per Executive Order 9265,6 November 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and announced in War Department Bulletin 56,1942. The criteria was initially announced in Department of the Army Circular 1, dated 1 January 1943, the criteria for the medal was announced in DA Circular 84, dated 25 March 1948 and subsequently published in Army Regulation 600-65, dated 22 September 1948. The American Campaign Medal was issued as a ribbon only during the Second World War. The first recipient of the American Campaign Medal was General of the Army George C, marshall, Jr. Permanently assigned as a member of a crew of a vessel sailing ocean waters for a period of 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days. Outside the continental limits of the United States in a status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days. Within the continental limits of the United States for a period of 1 year. The medal, made of bronze, is 1 1/4 inches wide, the obverse was designed by Thomas Hudson Jones. It shows a Navy cruiser underway with a B-24 Liberator bomber flying overhead, in the foreground is a sinking enemy submarine, and in the background is the skyline of a city. At the top of the medal are the words AMERICAN CAMPAIGN and it depicts an American bald eagle between the dates 1941 -1945 and the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide in oriental blue in the center is a 1/8 inch center stripe divided into thirds of old glory blue, white, between the center and the edges are stripes of 1/16 inch in white, black, scarlet and white. 3/16 inch service stars were authorized to service members who participated in combat with Axis forces within the American Theater and this primarily applied to those service members whose units participated in anti-U-Boat patrols in the Atlantic. To qualify individuals must have been assigned to or attached to, and present for duty with, a complete guide to all United States military medals,1939 to present. Robles, Philip K. United States military medals and ribbons

40.
World War II Victory Medal (United States)
–
The World War II Victory Medal was first issued as a service ribbon referred to as the “Victory Ribbon. ”By 1946, a full medal had been established which was referred to as the World War II Victory Medal. The corresponding medal from the World War I is the World War I Victory Medal, on 8 August 1946, the separate Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal was established for members of the United States Merchant Marine who served during World War II. The medal is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive, the National Personnel Records Center has reported some cases of service members receiving the award for simply a few days of service. As the Second World War ended on 2 September 1945, there may be cases of members who had enlisted, entered officer candidate school. Military Academy, the U. S. Naval Academy or the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in 1946, the reason for this late date is that President Harry S. Truman did not declare an official end of hostilities until the last day of 1946. The bronze medal is 1 3⁄8 inches in width, the rainbow on each side of the ribbon is a miniature of the pattern used in the World War I Victory Medal. Although the World War I Victory Medal included clasps, the World War II Victory Medal did not and this was because campaign medals were frequently awarded instead. Awards and decorations of the United States military Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal United States Statutes at Large, washington, DC, Office of the Federal Register. Washington, DC, Office of the Federal Register, navPers 15,790, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual. Washington, DC, Department of the Navy, mIL-DTL-3943/237A, Detail Specification Sheet — Medal, World War II Victory. MIL-DTL-11589/149E, Detail Specification Sheet — Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, fort Belvoir, Virginia, The Institute of Heraldry, U. S. Army. Archived from the original on September 9,2009

41.
Navy Occupation Service Medal
–
The medal was also bestowed to personnel who performed duty in West Berlin between 1945 and 1990. No more than one Navy Occupation Service Medal may be awarded to an individual, the Army of Occupation Medal is the equivalent of the Navy Occupation Service Medal. No person could receive both the Army and Navy occupation medals, the medal was designed by A. A. Weinman. It depicts Neptune riding a Hippocampus with the words Occupation Service, the reverse has the words United States Navy and is the same as that of the Dominican Campaign Medal. The medal is authorized two service clasps, Europe and Asia, the clasps are rectangular with a rope border. If eligible, both clasps may be worn on the medal, the Berlin Airlift Device is also authorized to those Naval personnel who have served 90 days or more with an accredited unit in support of the Berlin Airlift between 1948 and 1949. The following geographical duty areas, and time frames of eligibility, the Asia clasp was authorized for any service performed on shore or on ships in the following geographical duty areas and time frames of eligibility. Service after June 27,1950 which is eligible towards the criteria for the Korean Service Medal may not be considered for the Occupation Service Medal. Army of Occupation Medal Awards and decorations of the United States military Navy History & Heritage Command-Navy Occupation Service Medal SECNAVINST1650. 1H Chapter 8, § 3-831-5

42.
United States Navy
–
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress

43.
Asiatic-Pacific Theater
–
The Asiatic-Pacific Theater, was the area of operations of U. S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941-45. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, there were two U. S. operational commands in the Pacific. The Pacific Ocean Areas, divided into the Central Pacific Area, the North Pacific Area, the South West Pacific Area, including New Guinea, Philippines, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies, was commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific Area. During 1945, the United States added the U. S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, commanded by General Carl Spaatz. Because of the roles of the United States Army and the United States Navy in conducting war in the Pacific Theater. There was no command, rather, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater was divided into the SWPA, the POA. The Official Chronology of the U. S. Navy in World War II, in the Service of the Emperor, Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. Kafka, Roger, Pepperburg, Roy L. Warships of the World, the Campaigns of the Pacific War. A History of Us, War, Peace and all that Jazz, joint Operational Warfare, Theory and Practice. Newport, Rhode Island, United States Naval War College, the Battle for Leyte,1944, Allied and Japanese Plans, Preparations, and Execution

44.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan

Kiska, Alaska
–
Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about 22 miles long and varies in width from 1.5 to 6 miles and it is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permissions are required to visit it. Georg Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist-physician aboard Berings ship, wrote, On 25 October 1741 we had

1.
A topographical map of Kiska

2.
Kiska Volcano

Landing Ship, Tank
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and Europ

1.
A Canadian LST off-loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

2.
Bren Gun Carriers being loaded at Bone Harbour through the bow doors of HMS Bachaquero

3.
Boxer as Fighter Direction Ship

4.
LST-942 underway soon after completion, late in 1944

Maritime Commission
–
It also formed the United States Maritime Service for the training of seagoing ships officers to man the new fleet. The purpose of the Maritime Commission was multifold as described in the Merchant Marine Acts Declaration of Policy. S, Merchant Marine prior to the Act. Another function given to the Commission involved the formation of the U. S. Mar

1.
Seal of the United States Maritime Commission

2.
"Are you missing from this picture?" WWII United States Maritime Commission poster

Richmond, California
–
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7,1905, under the McLaughlin Administration, Richmond was the largest city in the United States served by a Green Party mayor. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the population is at 103,710. The largest, Richmond, Virginia, is the namesake o

1.
Point Richmond seen from nearby Nicholl Knob

2.
Southern Richmond in 1930, at the time the town of Stege, California.

3.
An E&SR streetcar in the Macdonald Avenue subway in downtown Richmond, 1906.

International Code of Signals
–
The International Code of Signals is an international system of signals and codes for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. Signals can be sent by flaghoist, signal lamp, flag semaphore, radiotelegraphy, the International Code is the most recent evolution of a wide variety of maritime f

1.
How to say "Communicate with me!" in nine languages.

Battle star
–
The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award is authorized the star and the manner in which the device is used for the award. Service stars, Campaign stars, and Battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the ribbon of a medal. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze st

1.
Bronze and Silver Service Stars

LST-1 class tank landing ship
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and Europ

1.
A Canadian LST off-loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

2.
Bren Gun Carriers being loaded at Bone Harbour through the bow doors of HMS Bachaquero

3.
Boxer as Fighter Direction Ship

4.
LST-942 underway soon after completion, late in 1944

Tank landing ship
–
This provided amphibious assaults to almost any beach. The bow of the LST had a door that would open with a ramp for unloading the vehicles. The LST had a flat keel that allowed the ship to be beached. The twin propellers and rudders had protection from grounding, the LSTs served across the globe during World War II including, Pacific War and Europ

1.
A Canadian LST off-loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

2.
Bren Gun Carriers being loaded at Bone Harbour through the bow doors of HMS Bachaquero

3.
Boxer as Fighter Direction Ship

4.
LST-942 underway soon after completion, late in 1944

Tonne
–
The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviatio

1.
Base units

Draft (hull)
–
Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate. The draft can also be used to determine the weight of the cargo on board by calculating the displacement of water. A table made by the shows the water displacement for each draft. The density of the water and the content of the bunkers has to be taken into account. The

1.
Draft marks on a ship's bow

2.
English system used on the stern of the Cutty Sark

Foot (unit)
–
The foot is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Since 1959, both units have been defined by international agreement as equivalent to 0.3048 meters exactly, in both systems, the foot comprises 12 inches and three feet compose a yard. Historically the foot was a part of local systems of units, including the Greek

1.
The unofficial public imperial measurement standards erected at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in the 19th century

2.
Determination of the rod, using the length of the left foot of 16 randomly chosen people coming from church service. Woodcut published in the book Geometrei by Jakob Köbel (Frankfurt, c. 1536).

Metre
–
The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar

Horsepower
–
Horsepower is a unit of measurement of power. There are many different standards and types of horsepower, two common definitions being used today are the mechanical horsepower, which is approximately 746 watts, and the metric horsepower, which is approximately 735.5 watts. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Wat

1.
A team of six horses mowing hay in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Kilowatt
–
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units defined as 1 joule per second and can be used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. Power has dimensions of M L2 T −3, when an objects velocity is held constant at one meter per second against constant opposing force of one newton the rate at which work is done is 1 watt. 1

1.
Base units

Electro-Motive Diesel
–
Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail Services Corporation, in 1930, General Motors purchased Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. combining the two to form it

1.
EMD builder's plate

2.
Burlington Northern EMD F3

3.
EMD GP7 (left) and E9A (right)

4.
EMD SD40-2

Diesel engine
–
Diesel engines work by compressing only the air. This increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a degree that it ignites atomised diesel fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber. This contrasts with spark-ignition engines such as an engine or gas engine. In diesel engines, glow plugs may be used to aid starting in cold weat

1.
Diesel generator on an oil tanker

2.
A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906

3.
A Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine working at the Great Dorset Steam Fair

4.
Diesel's original 1897 engine on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany

Reduction gear
–
A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so that the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission of rotation from one gear to the next. The transmission of rotation between contacting toothed wheel

1.
Illustration from Army Service Corps Training on Mechanical Transport, (1911), Fig. 112 Transmission of motion and force by gear wheels, compound train

2.
An Agricola illustration from 1580 showing a toothed wheel that engages a slotted cylinder to form a gear train that transmits power from a human-powered treadmill to mining pump.

3.
2 gears and an idler gear on a piece of farm equipment, with a ratio of 42/13 = 3.23:1

4.
Valve timing gears on a Ford Taunus V4 engine — the small gear is on the crankshaft, the larger gear is on the camshaft. The crankshaft gear has 34 teeth, the camshaft gear has 68 teeth and runs at half the crankshaft RPM. (The small gear in the lower left is on the balance shaft.)

Propeller
–
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Their disadvantages are higher mechanical complexity and higher cost, the principle employed in using a screw propeller is u

1.
Propeller on a modern mid-sized merchant vessel. The propeller rotates clockwise to propel the ship forward when viewed from astern (right of picture), the person in the picture has his hand on the propeller's trailing edge

2.
Archimedes' screw.

3.
Propellers of the RMS Olympic, a sister ship to the RMS Titanic.

4.
Smith's original 1836 patent for a screw propeller of two full turns. He would later revise the patent, reducing the length to one turn.

Knot (unit)
–
The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, approximately 1.151 mph. The ISO Standard symbol for the knot is kn, the same symbol is preferred by the IEEE, kt is also common. The knot is a unit that is accepted for use with the SI. Etymologically, the term derives from counting the number of knots in the line that unspooled from

1.
Graphic scale from a Mercator projection world map, showing the change with latitude

Kilometres per hour
–
The kilometre per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of kilometres travelled in one hour. Worldwide, it is the most commonly used unit of speed on road signs, the Dutch on the other hand adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local name of the mijl. The SI representations, classified as symbols, are km/h, km h−1 and km·h−1, the u

1.
A car speedometer that indicates measured speed in kilometres per hour.

2.
Automobile speedometer, measuring speed in miles per hour on the outer track, and kilometres per hour on the inner track. In Canada "km/h" is shown on the outer track and "MPH" on the inner track.

Miles per hour
–
Miles per hour is an imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of statute miles covered in one hour. Miles per hour is the also used in the Canadian rail system. In some countries mph may be used to express the speed of delivery of a ball in sporting events such as cricket, tennis, road traffic speeds in other countri

1.
Automobile speedometer, indicating speed in miles per hour on the outer scale and kilometres per hour on the inner scale

2.
United States road sign with maximum speed noted in standard Mph

LCVP (United States)
–
The landing craft, vehicle, personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins based on boats made for operating in swamps, more than 20,000 were built, by Higgins Industries and licensees. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like

1.
USS Darke (APA-159)'s LCVP 18, possibly with army troops as reinforcements at Okinawa, circa 9 to 14 April 1945.

2.
LCVP side elevation and plan

3.
U.S. Navy sailors stream minesweeping gear behind an LCVP off Chinnampo, North Korea, on 5 December 1950 during the Korean War.

4.
A replica Higgins boat plies the water near New Orleans.

Pound (mass)
–
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement. The international standard symbol for the pound is lb. The unit is descended from the Roman libra, the English word pound is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pund. All ultimately derive from a bo

1.
Various historic pounds from a German textbook dated 1848

2.
The Tower Pound

Kilogram
–
The kilogram or kilogramme is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype of the Kilogram. The avoirdupois pound, used in both the imperial and US customary systems, is defined as exactly 0.45359237 kg, making one kilogram approximately equal to 2.2046 avoirdupo

1.
A domestic-quality one-kilogram weight made of cast iron (the credit card is for scale). The shape follows OIML recommendation R52 for cast-iron hexagonal weights

2.
Measurement of weight – gravitational attraction of the measurand causes a distortion of the spring

3.
Measurement of mass – the gravitational force on the measurand is balanced against the gravitational force on the weights.

4.
The Arago kilogram, an exact copy of the "Kilogramme des Archives" commissioned in 1821 by the US under supervision of French physicist François Arago that served as the US's first kilogram standard of mass until 1889, when the US converted to primary metric standards and received its current kilogram prototypes, K4 and K20.

Cargo
–
Multi-modal container units, designed as reusable carriers to facilitate unit load handling of the goods contained, are also referred to as cargo, specially by shipping lines and logistics operators. Similarly, aircraft ULD boxes are also documented as cargo, with associated packing list of the contained within. When empty containers are shipped ea

1.
Cargo being unloaded from a ship using a cargo net at Haikou New Port, Haikou City, Hainan, China

Commissioned officer
–
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of mod

1.
A commissioned officer and a non-commissioned officer prepare for a mission in Afghanistan.

2.
The Royal Navy officer training academy Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, also known as HMS Britannia

3.
A platoon from the Australian 29th Battalion being addressed by their Commanding Officer in August 1918

Enlisted man
–
An enlisted rank is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. In most cases, enlisted service personnel perform jobs specific to their own occupational specialty, the term enlistment refers solely to a military commitment whereas the terms taken of strength and struck off strength refer to a servicemember being carried

1.
v

Bofors 40 mm gun
–
The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late

1.
Bofors 40 mm/L60. This example includes the British-designed Stiffkey Sight, being operated by the aimer standing to the right of the loader (turned sideways). It operates the trapeze seen above the sights, moving the sights to adjust for lead.

2.
Finnish Bofors 40 mm. This gun mounts the original reflector sights, and lacks the armor found on British examples.

3.
Polish-made Bofors gun after the Battle of the Bzura. This gun also mounts the reflector sight that equipped the original Bofors versions.

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
–
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold

1.
A modern Oerlikon cannon (Oerlikon 20mm/85 KAA) on a Royal Navy warship

Adak Island
–
Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaskas southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island, the island has a land area of 274.59 square miles, measuring 33.9 miles on length and 22 miles on width, making it the 25th largest island in the United States. Due to harsh wi

Guam
–
Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 21

1.
Marines laying fire on a Japanese sniper nest (July 28, 1944).

2.
Flag

3.
Guam from satellite

4.
Aerial view of Apra Harbor

Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
–
They were the first steps of the drive across the central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The purpose was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow air, operations Galvanic and Kourbash were the code names for the Gilberts campaign that included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin. Operations Flintlock and Ca

1.
An SBD Dauntless flies patrol over the USS Washington and USS Lexington during the Gilbert and Marshall islands campaign.

Battle of Kwajalein
–
The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in

1.
Soldiers of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division attack a Japanese blockhouse on Kwajalein.

2.
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is presented with the flag that flew over Kwajalein

Battle of Hollandia
–
The Battle of Hollandia was an engagement between American and Japanese forces during World War II. It took place in spring of 1944 and was part of the New Guinea campaign, the landings were undertaken simultaneously with the amphibious landings at Aitape to the east. Hollandia was a port on the north coast of New Guinea, part of the Dutch East Ind

1.
Landing craft approaching Tanahmera Bay

2.
Map of Operation Reckless

Battle of Guam (1944)
–
Guam, at 212 square miles, is the largest island of the Marianas, with a length of 32 miles and a width ranging from 12 miles to 4 miles at different points of the island. It had been a United States possession since its capture from Spain in 1898 until it was captured by the Japanese on 10 December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It wa

1.
Two U.S. Marines (Captain Paul O'Neal of Brighton, Mass. (left), Captain Milton Thompson of Upper Montclair, N.J.) plant the American flag on Guam eight minutes after U.S. Marine and Army assault troops landed.

2.
Bombardment of Guam on 14 July 1944 before the battle, as seen from the New Mexico

3.
US Marines move inland

4.
Three marine amphibian tractor battalion officers that played an important role in the invasion of Guam: from left to right, Maj. Erwin F. Wann, Maj. W.W. Butler and Lt. Col. Sylvester Stephens

Battle of Iwo Jima
–
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II, after the heavy losses incurred in the

1.
A U.S. 37 mm (1.5 in) gun fires against Japanese cave positions in the north face of Mount Suribachi.

2.
Lieut. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi

3.
The battleship USS New York firing its 14 in (360 mm) main guns on the island, 16 February 1945 (D minus 3)

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Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt

Battle of Okinawa
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The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own air force. The battle has been referred to as the typhoon of steel in English, the nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks, and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that ass

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A U.S. Marine from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines on Wana Ridge provides covering fire with his Thompson submachine gun, 18 May 1945.

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The last picture of U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. (right), taken on 18 June 1945; later in the day he was killed by Japanese artillery.

Combat Action Ribbon
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The Combat Action Ribbon, is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard military decoration. The Coast Guard CAR was authorized on 16 July 2008 and may be awarded to members of the Coast Guard in the grade of captain and below, who have actively participated in ground or maritime combat. The Navy Combat Action Ribbon is retroactive to 7 Dec

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Top: U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Bottom: U.S. Coast Guard

American Campaign Medal
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The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6,1942 by Executive Order 9265 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had performed military service in the American Theater of Operations during World War II. A sim

World War II Victory Medal (United States)
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The World War II Victory Medal was first issued as a service ribbon referred to as the “Victory Ribbon. ”By 1946, a full medal had been established which was referred to as the World War II Victory Medal. The corresponding medal from the World War I is the World War I Victory Medal, on 8 August 1946, the separate Merchant Marine World War II Victor

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Obverse

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The National World War II Memorial has an engraving of it in one of the two pavilions

Navy Occupation Service Medal
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The medal was also bestowed to personnel who performed duty in West Berlin between 1945 and 1990. No more than one Navy Occupation Service Medal may be awarded to an individual, the Army of Occupation Medal is the equivalent of the Navy Occupation Service Medal. No person could receive both the Army and Navy occupation medals, the medal was designe

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Navy Occupation Service Medal

United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers

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United States Navy portal

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USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente during the Quasi-War

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USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812

Asiatic-Pacific Theater
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The Asiatic-Pacific Theater, was the area of operations of U. S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941-45. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, there were two U. S. operational commands in the Pacific. The Pacific Ocean Areas, divided into the Central Pacific Area, the North Pacific Area, the South West Pacific Area,

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A map of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater showing its component areas. The China-Burma-India Theater fell under the British-led South East Asia Command.

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Pacific Theater section of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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Japanese naval aircraft prepare to attack Pearl Harbor.

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Okinawa, 1945. A U.S. Marine aims a Thompson submachine gun at a Japanese sniper, as his companion takes cover.

World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directl

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Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the Battle of Wanjialing, Australian 25-pounder guns during the First Battle of El Alamein, German Stuka dive bombers on the Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the Lingayen Gulf, Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad

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The League of Nations assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 1930

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Adolf Hitler at a German National Socialist political rally in Weimar, October 1930

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Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the Second Italo-Abyssinian War

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In 1999 the French carrier Charles De Gaulle began her sea trial phase, which identified the need for the flight deck to be extended for the safe operation of the E2C Hawkeye.

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Hundreds attend the commissioning ceremony for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan, wife of the ship's namesake, gave the ship's crew its traditional first order as an active unit of the Navy: "Man the ship and bring her to life."

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USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was attacked by the Israeli Defense Forces in 1967, which left her damaged beyond economical repair.

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Crew members and guest salute as the colors are paraded at the decommissioning ceremony of the salvage and rescue ship Grasp.

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Three lieutenant shoulder boards of the Royal Canadian Navy with the insignia worn by honorary aides-de-camp to the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (left) Lieutenant Governor of Québec (centre) and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (right).

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LST-1 underway soon after completion c. December 1942 in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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LST-1 (right) and LST-292 "high and dry" on the beach at Saint-Michel-en-Grève, on the north shore of the Brittany Peninsula, during supply operations in support of the campaign against German forces at Brest, France in September 1944. Taken by a SHAEF photographer.